Azeri company plans world's tallest building

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A property developer in oil-rich Azerbaijan says the company is aiming to construct the world's tallest building on a chain of artificial islands in the Caspian Sea.

Kana Guluzade, marketing director of the Avesta company, said Tuesday the plans for the complex include a business center soaring to 1050 meters (3,645 feet), which would be 27 percent taller than the current champ, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The tower initially had been planned at 560 meters (1,837 feet), he said.

The project is to include 41 islands about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the capital Baku, including hotels and apartment buildings.

Guluzade said construction of the complex, called Khazar Islands, is to begin at the end of 2013.